Chapter Nine - Bloody Assignations

"Off through the new day's mist I run. Off from the new day's mist I have come. We shift, pulsing with the earth. Company we keep, roaming the land while you sleep. Shape shift, nose to the wind. Shape shift, feeling I've been. Move swift, all senses clean. Earth's gift, back to the meaning of life. Bright is the moon high in starlight. Chill is the air cold as steel tonight. We shift, call of the wild. Fear in your eyes, it's later than you realized. Shape shift, nose to the wind. Shape shift, feeling I've been. Move swift, all senses clean. Earth's gift, back to the meaning of... Of wolf, and man." -Metallica, Of Wolf and Man It was night. The cool air moaned through the craggy rocks that made up the Gongagan coast. A deep, abiding darkness had settled on the land. It began to rain in small, warm drops, as though the sky itself were weeping. Pit. Pit-pat. Reiko oriented her head upwards, her lips thinning. Slowly, she sheathed her sword and walked to Jaeger's side. She could not see it of course, but years with Jaeger as her sole companion had taught her much about reading his moods. He was brooding. Jaeger spun the pistol idly in his gloved right hand, allowing the pistol to complete one full rotation before stopping it, clicked the safety once on, once off, then flipped it again, over and over. Swish, clack-click. Swish, clack-click. It was a bad habit of his, one that told her he was thinking about something. "What is wrong, Jaeger-sama?" He frowned. "It should not have been so easy, Schattenblum." She raised one eyebrow, then, smelling and hearing the blood dripping from it, softly took hold of his injured hand. He stood patiently as she bandaged his bloodied fingers. "You wanted it to be harder than that?" He grunted in assent, then shook her off when she was done. "He never made mistakes before. It surprised me..." She frowned. "So... you think he may have had an... ulterior motive for pushing the girl off the cliff, then getting shot?" He looked sidelong at her. "Ja." "What makes you so certain?" He frowned and looked through the gloom, to the sea. For a long time, he was silent. "He is der Schwarze Tod." She frowned. "What does it mean?" He grinned. "The Black Death." He turned and looked at her. "You cannot kill death so easily, ja? Come Reiko. Let us find a way down to the beach." He turned back to the sea. When his words came, they held a whisper of reverence that made Reiko shiver involuntarily. "Tonight, we find out if even death may die, eh?" ----------------------------------------------------- Yuffie stared wide eyed at the demon. In all of her darkest imaginings, she had never once considered the possibility that something so monsterous could hold her so completely in its power. She was more afraid then she'd ever been in her life. In her worst nightmares, sometimes, she watched, broken and bleeding while Sephiroth tore the lives of her friends asunder and laughed, insane and keening as Meteor raped the Planet bloody, bleeding and dead. From these dreams she would awaken, gasping and sweating, and sit, trembling on her roof or a tree, or some similarly tall location until the moon disappeared and the sun once again rose. This affirmation, that life plodded implacably on, despite the best efforts of madmen and dark gods to end it, calmed her fears almost instantly. Despite that, Chaos was far, far worse. HE awakened a different sort of fear in her. With Sephiroth and Meteor, it was not an immediate fear... Sephiroth was far too grand and majestic an evil to face rationally... the sheer power of the abomination had been such that if one COULD face all of that potential wickedness, one would be driven mad... it was just too encompassing... a being that could tear down the heavens and rent the very earth itself with the screaming remnants? Even when it was happening, it just seemed too surreal. Like a dream. The fear was always one of failure, of the burden thrust upon her, upon them. It was a fear she could face, no matter how terrible. Chaos was different in that it was too immediate... too visceral a fear to rationalize. She'd SEEN his claws tear the life out of screaming, shrieking victims... she'd heard the bone crackle snap of his wings as he descended upon his tormentors... the rasping, dry, dark, bloody laughter of triumph he emitted, made all the more freakish by how human it was, when he ripped Hojo apart. No matter how much his victims pleaded or begged, or how much terror they felt, it was never enough to slake the demon's thirst. Only blood seemed to stop him. Watching Chaos was like watching a tornado or a forest fire in action... a thing of terrible beauty, but best observed at a distance. Best if it wasn't happening to you. Well now it was happening to her, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. Still, Chaos was not invulnerable. Whatever injuries Vincent had received, Chaos apparently had as well, as evidenced by the black blood that had coated her chest and run down her legs. It was hot and coppery, and despite the fact that it made her want to vomit, she fought the nausea with frightened determination. She didn't want to annoy the demon by upchucking on him. The demon shifted her in its grasp, and she squirmed, afraid of what it was going to do. "Let me go you-" "Stooooop. SQUUUUIRMING." It hissed. She fell limp. The two unholy lights it used for eyes oriented on her face and narrowed, as though considering. "I'm not going to HHHUUUURT yoooou. Sssssilly butterflllly." She blinked. It dropped heavily onto the sand several hundred yards from the cliff where they'd taken their deadly plunge, its wings fanning out for balance. Apparently the landing was not entirely intentional, or perhaps Chaos was a little too overwhelmed by the pain of its wounds, for it dropped her heavily on her ass in the sand and fell to one knee in front of her, its fanged mouth inches from her face. It snorted loudly like a bull, letting out one gasping, wheezing cough that sprayed a mist of black blood all over her face. Despite her fear she scrunched up her nose and winced. "Oh... YUUUCK!" This broke the terror in her like a dam, and she wiped the blood from her face (actually only succeeding in smearing it around). It grinned evilly at her and shook its head like a cat, then slowly stood, clutching its chest with one clawed hand. Despite her flaws, Yuffie was not a coward. She knew that if Chaos was here, it was because Vincent had lost control, not that she blamed him, considering the situation. Still, at this point she was more concerned for her companion then she was afraid of Chaos, and that spoke volumes of how highly the gunman had crept into her thoughts. She stood and faced the demon squarely. Despite her current bravado, she WAS scared of Chaos, and this was evidenced by how much she trembled before it. Still, she stood her ground. Chaos eyed her wearily. "Thhhhhis sssshell... is broken." It seemed to have problems pronouncing its k's, they came out with a hiss-crack noise like breaking bone. She involuntarily took a defensive stance at the sound, her eyes never leaving the demon's. "Y-you mean Vincent... right? H-he's hurt real bad..." It gave her a look that, if it wasn't CHAOS that was giving it to her, she would have sworn was saying "Duh!". She reserved herself a little better, resolutely frowning at the demon. "Is he going to die?" Chaos seemed to consider her words... then it grinned, nastily. "It issss very hard to killll ssssomeone who isssss already dead." She gulped. It frowned. "But.... we are very clossse to oblivion... thissss will not do... you musssst take ussss to the liffe-carver." It was her turn to frown. "The what?" It growled, gritting its teeth. "The LIFFFFE-CARVER! The one who cutssss away death." She narrowed her eyes. "Do you mean... a surgeon?" It nodded slowly. "Yessss... that word... tassstesss right." She gulped. It looked back towards the cliffs and growled, menacingly. "We are being... purssssued. If we are overtaken... we will not ssssurvive." She grimaced. "There is no way I'm going to be able to hide you looking like that, and there isn't a doctor alive who'd see you. They'd probably never open their doors again, if you showed up." She crossed her arms. "Give me back Vincent." It stared down at her. "You have... feeeeelingssss for thissss killer?" "I am SO not having this conversation with you right now, it's not even funny." She said, resolutely. Even though a light blush appeared on her cheeks. It chuckled nastily, then roared soundlessly, collapsing onto its knees and clawing at the sky. Black hair cascaded from its head as its horns receded, its left arm becoming encapsulated in a golden shell. She watched, spellbound, as the demon retreated back inside Vincent's alabaster skin, and then the gunman slumped lifelessly onto the sand, a pool of blood spreading about him with alarming haste. "Vincent!" She ran to him and lifted him up, laborously turning him over so that his head was against her chest, her arms around him. Blood leaked out of three grievous wounds on his chest. His eyes were closed, his head tilted back, exposing his mouth. Blood threaded sluggishly from it. "Oh god Vincent, I'm s-so... sorry." She wiped away her hot tears, her face resolving into hard stone. There would be time for weeping later, right now it was time for survival. She removed his bloody cloak and tore it into several long stripes. Then she removed her own sweater shirt, her skin chilling quickly in the damp sea air. She wore only her thin undershirt and the bindings over her breasts. The time for modesty was past as well. She frowned, realizing that air hissed in and out of one of the chest wounds weakly, causing the blood to bubble disgustingly. She placed one of her remaining throwning knives laterally over the wound, blocking the air from escaping, then padded her sweater over the three wounds in his chest, tying them down securely with the ragged strips of his cloak. She threw a fearful glance up the cliff, but she could detect no movement in the darkness. Vincent's breathing was labored and weak, but the bleeding had slowed down, though her sweater shirt was quickly becoming soaked. She didn't think it was possible for so much blood to come out of one person, but she didn't allow herself to think of that. She kept repeating to herself, time for that later, time for that later... She felt a strange object in an inside cloak pocket of his and pulled it out. It was a small tin whistle. Recognizing it for what it was, she put it against her forehead and thanked Leviathan Vincent had decided it was important to catch up to her so quickly. Then she blew on it. No sound emerged. She waited. -------------------------------------------------------- Reiko stopped and oriented her face upwards, holding out a hand out to stop Jaeger's movement. Used to her sudden movements, he simply stopped and watched her quizzically, waiting for her explanation. He didn't have long to wait. "Strange... it was like... a whistle." She muttered. He raised an eyebrow. "I heard nothing." "Neither did I." She said finally. "I felt it." Jaeger frowned. -------------------------------------------------------- She waited, stroking Vincent's brow softly. In unconsciousness, the planes of his face softened into more delicate lines, making him appear almost ethereally beautiful. The pallor of his cheeks and the clamminess of his skin ruined the image however... She bit her lip. "Why, Vinnie? Why me?" Vincent Valentine was not inclined to answer, though for once, it wasn't exactly his fault. A sudden warking sound caught her attention and she glanced up, hope lighting in her eyes once again. A chocobo's soft chocolate eyes blinked at her. There were a pair of them, one tethered to the other, a black and a yellow. Vincent had obviously expected to catch up to her, and hadn't wanted to lose any time. A plan bloomed in her head, and for the first time since she'd gone over the cliff, she felt like she had a chance at surviving this craziness. Vincent on the other hand... no. She wasn't going to lose him. Death would have to fight her to the... er, death for him, and that was that. She looked around panicky for one quick moment, having suddenly remembered something that had eluded her in all the confusion earlier, then sighed in relief when she spotted her favorite tool. Rushing over to Conformer, she picked it up quickly, stowing it before rushing back and grabbing the reins of the chocobos, cursing softly when the blood smell coming from Vincent caused them to shuffle nervously away from him. She wrapped the reins of the larger, stronger looking black one around her arm, then put both arms under Vincent's armpits and heaved. He didn't budge. She gasped from the strain then heaved again. His head lolled downward, but she was only able to get him to a sitting position. "Come on you stubborn jerk!" She hissed at him, panic and concern making her snappish. "How the hell can someone so damn... skinny weigh so... damn much!" "God damn it Vincent, if you die on me, I'll never- -------------------------------------------------- "-forgive you." Vincent stopped, frozen in the act of walking out of the room. He turned slowly, regarding the petite blond scientist with a guarded expression. "Excuse me?" He said finally. "I said, if you harm so much as a hair on his head, I'll never forgive you, Vincent Valentine." He frowned. "You don't... mean that." She stared back at him. He was the first one to look away. Despite the practiced, professional mask he always maintained, he could not prevent the slightest amount of hurt from seeping from him. "He's no good for you, Lucrecia. That little bastard is just using-" "I know." She said calmly, cutting through his argument like paper. He raised his head then, staring down at her from behind his black sunglasses, so she wouldn't see the hurt in his gaze. "I love you, 'Crecia. Why won't you let me protect you?" "I don't want to be protected from him, Vincent. I love him." His eyes widened, and he shifted his body as though staggering from a gut punch. He said nothing. She put her hand on his arm, gently. "I love both of you, Vincent." She said fiercely. "But... I understand him. I know him, Vincent." "I'm... not..." She looked down, unable to continue her sentence. He shook her arm loose, looking away. She took an involuntary step back, paling. He didn't see the fear on her face. He never had. "Some day he'll hurt you, 'Crecia. I know it. When that happens... I'll kill him." He stood up straight, betraying none of his pain to her. He couldn't make her understand... couldn't make her see that Hojo was dangerous, that he had some plan, some agenda of his own for her. The man was in love with science, with his own perceived greatness... with that perfect, icy beauty to cherish, why would he woo a flesh and blood woman? No, Hojo was doing what he did best. Manipulate those who, unlike him, had feelings to manipulate. "I'll protect you Lucrecia. Even if you hate me." He walked out. It was last time he saw her. When both of them were still alive, anyway. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- "Wake UP!" Yuffie shouted at him, tears coming involuntarily to her eyes. She knew psycho gunboy and his sidekick creepy sword girl were coming, and she only had one chance at this. She had to get him onto that damn chocobo, but he was too damn heavy for her to move. His eyes snapped open, then rolled wildly, focusing on something past her shoulder. "No..." he gasped. She gasped. "Vincent! Thank god!" He was still staring past her shoulder. "Vincent, look at me, we have to..." His eyes locked with her own startled gaze suddenly, fever and madness glaring out of them. He roughly grabbed her shoulders and brought his face close to hers. "'Crecia!" He whispered. He winced. "Hurts." "What the!? What are you-" He blinked, searching her face confusedly. She blinked back. This was... unexpected, to say the least, and he was holding her so tight it hurt. "Vincent..." "Scared..." He shook his head. "Why are you scared of me?" He demanded. "Um... Vinnie, I have no idea where you're going with this..." She was right. She DIDN'T have a clue. Because right then, Vincent kissed her. Hard. So hard it hurt. Her shocked eyes flew wide, and she froze half way in the act of trying to pull his arms off of hers. Like many teenaged girls, she placed a large amount of stock on the "first kiss". She had imagined a thousand different scenarios ranging from Cloud to Reno (though she'd never admit it, she thought the Turk was kinda cute, in a trashy sorta way. It was a guilty fantasy, like eating too much ice cream. You know its no good for you, but you do it anyway, because it's so sweet.) She'd expected it to knock her off her feet. She'd never imagined it would be Vincent. Nor in her wildest flights of fancy did she imagine it to be like this. It took her breath away and sent hot lightning rocketing through her to her very core. Her lips felt bruised, and her body too cold and too warm at the same time. It was a good thing she was on her knees at the moment, because she probably would have collapsed if she wasn't. Then she tasted blood... lots of it, and that snapped her back to her senses. She did the only thing she could think of. She slapped him. Actually, it was more like a full on haymaker. It rocked his head sideways and he let go, blinking confusedly. A red mark appeared on his otherwise pallid cheek. "Cut it out, Vinnie! I'm not Lucrecia!" She said angrily, just a bit hurt. She didn't want to think too deeply about why the fact that he thought she was Lucrecia when he kissed her hurt. His eyes started to glaze over and she snapped her fingers in front of him. "No you're not, Vincent Valentine. If you fucking pass out on me again, I swear to god I'll KILL you... er, again." She had his attention. Wavering though it was. Slipping under his human arm, she strained to get him into a standing position and after a confused, drunken moment he assisted her, his exertions oozing blood from his mouth and nose with each breath. He winced with each movement, but other than that did not complain. Somehow, she got him up onto the chocobo, even though halfway through the action he lost consciousness again. The beast warked uneasily at the bloody burden it was being forced to bear. Yuffie strapped him into the saddle to prevent him from falling off, then led both beasts into the midnight surf. Looking at the yellow bird sadly, she patted its head and crooned to it. "Sorry big guy, I'm gonna have to hurt you a little, but its a matter of life or death. Don't hate me, ok?" It cocked its head at her, calming slightly. She quickly swiped Conformer across the bird's flank, cutting deeply enough to allow the birds blood to run freely from the wound. The silvery bit of metal was so sharp the bird hardly jerked, though it warked unhappily and fought with her for control. She released it and slapped its back in the direction of the forest, watching as it tore up sand in its haste to escape. She then mounted the black chocobo behind Vincent, kicking its flanks until it grunted under its burden and plodded quickly through the surf in the opposite direction. The blood slowly dripping from Vincent was almost instantly lost in the swirling dark waters. She only hoped her deception gave them a headstart. She fingered her lips confusedly for a moment, then shook it off and devoted her full attention to pushing the chocobo in the right direction. Later... time to dwell on it later. ----------------------------------------------------------- "I smell blood, Jaeger-sama. Lots of it." "That I expected, Schattenblum, this..." He looked at the depression in the sand quizzically. It looked as if some great unknown beast had collapsed. The lean gunman and his petite charge shouldn't have been capable of surviving such a long plummet, let alone create a hole of this size, at least, not and still get up and leave it. Not to mention the fact... that this particular crater was several hundred yards away from where they'd gone over the side. His eyes pierced through the rain and darkness, aided by the glowstick he'd cracked to provide some illumination. Despite the poor conditions, Jaeger's trained eye did not miss the blood that appeared black in the dim light; more than a man should have been capable of losing and survive, leading away from the scene of the crash. Jaeger followed the trail until it disappeared into the surf. "Schiest." He muttered. "Jaeger-sama... I have found something." Jaeger turned to where his smaller companion had crouched. A series of splay-toed foot prints with large spacing between them disappeared off down the beach towards the jungle. Something glistened wetly on Reiko's fingertips, causing flecks of sand to adhere to her gloves. She wiped them off in the surf. He grinned. Blood... and Chocobo tracks. That accounted for the strange whistle Reiko said she had heard. THIS was more like it. He'd obviously had some sort of plan in case the fight had gone sour. "Very clever, Schwarze Tod. Very clever." He looked at Reiko. She was frowning. "What is it, Schattenblum?" She oriented in his direction for a moment, her face distant, before returning to its normal tranquility. "Something about this does not feel right, Jaeger-sama." He frowned. She shook her head. "I... no. We have a trail, our quarry is obviously in headlong flight." He grinned. "Let us end this, eh?" She nodded shortly, and the two of them raced after their quarry, in hot pursuit. --------------------------------------------- "I think she'll be fine, Tom. It was a clean break, and she's young. If you keep a good eye on her for a while, I see no reason why she wouldn't grow up as strong and healthy as her dam." Tom scratched his head and grunted in assent. "I'll hafta make them damn fences higher. Damn fool thing's a jumper, but not good enough to clear it, just enough ta get caught up in it." The doctor finished wrapping up the baby chocobo's leg expertly and straightened, sighing. It had been a long night, and she needed a cigarette and a chance to sit down. Seemed like everyone in the goddamn city had some sick animal or another to be dealt with. This was SO not her bag. It was not the first time she'd thought those words, and she shoved her thoughts brutally aside. She wasn't a big city doctor anymore. Tom picked up the Chocobo chick and cradled it gently. He was a good man, if a bit set in his ways, typical of his breed. Of course ranchers around these parts tended to be that way, a bunch of thickheaded, dependable, stoic worryworts. Clannish too. It had taken years to be accepted, grudgingly, into their midst. Of course, it helped that she was good at what she did, too. It had been hard at first. Of course, their suspicious nature meant that once you were a part of them, they defended you like family. Nor did they ask particularly prying questions. She grinned. "Well that about does it, Tom. Just try and keep an eye on her this time, ok?" He scowled. "It ain't easy what with them forner's wanderin' aroun' like they own the place. Couple of 'em tried ta run off with some o' my eggs, an' you damn well KNOW they wasn't gonna raise the things." She grimaced. That reminded her. "Well Tom, there's alot of people out there right now who could really use a bit of charity, what with Wutai exploding into violence like it has." She sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I have to make a round or two up there, see if anyone needs my help." Tom snorted. "Kiddo, I don't see why you waste your time with that buncha thieves. They'd as soon rob ya as look at-" "Enough Tom! I'm surprised at you! You know they're too scared to come to me by themselves, and too poor and proud to accept help like that anyway. Where's your sense of charity?" He looked away sullenly. "At home, next to ma shotgun." She giggled helplessly at that thought, and he lightened up a bit. "I just worry about you, Teresa. You never know what kinda wierdos-" "SOMEBODY PLEASE, HELP ME!" He blinked. "What the sam hell?" She blinked back at him, then followed him quickly to the door and into the rainy night. ---------------------------------------------------------- She should have realized things were going too easily. Well they weren't really. Vincent was down and badly injured, possibly dying, for all she knew, they were currently being pursued by a pair of ruthless, cold-hearted killers, and to make matters worse, the clinic she remembered being here WASN'T here anymore... now it looked like some sort of waystation/ranch. Oh the old medical sign was still there, of course, but now there were corrals full of sickly looking animals, and a couple of makeshift sheds. To top it off, the damn chocobo had finally had enough of being bled on and was currently making her life a living hell. She fought with the reins, straining to pull the beast closer to the clinic, but the damn thing had set its claws and was currently determined to lift her off her feet. Vincent lolled oddly to the side, the only thing holding him on the creature's back was the fact that he was strapped to the damn saddle. "Come ON you stubborn BASTARD BIRD!" She screamed at it. It let out a panicky "WARK" and shifted it's head sideways, trying to chew on the reins. "Settle DOWN there! That ain't no way ta treat a lady!" She blinked and lost her hold on the reins at interruption of the strange voice, just as a large sunbrowned hand reached out and caught the reins before the beast could slip away. She went into fight or flight mode, jumpy and suspicious, but the large man in the overalls and button-up shirt simply shouldered her out of the way and crooned gently to the beast, reaching hesitantly up with his other large hand to stroke the frightened chocobo's feathered brow. It warked unhappily at him. "I know, I know girl. We'll get that slab a' meat offen ya." He whispered. "HEY!" Yuffie shouted indignantly. "Vincent is NOT a slab of meat!" The stranger never took his eyes off the chocobo. "Ya coulda fooled me, girl." "Geez, Tom... a little bedside manner never hurt anybody, you know?" The second voice was a soothing contralto, with just a hint of bemused humor in it. Yuffie blinked through the rain and caught sight of a middling height woman with chestnut brown hair and a tired look about her, like life was a constant, if sometimes amusing, chore. She wore a faded white coat with a few darkish stains on it. Tom snorted. "You're the doctor, T. I jus' don't like seein' a fine feathered friend bein' abused." Yuffie growled. "That fucker was abusing ME!" The doctor and the rancher gave her an unamused look. "What your language." They said simultaneously. She blinked. "What the f-" She sighed. "Ok look, can you forgive me if I'm a little tense right now? While we're arguing about my dirty mouth, my... my friend is bleeding to death! What's WRONG with you people!" The "doctor" came closer and noticed the blood all over her and her companion, blood that had been hidden by the rain and the night's darkness. "Holy shit!" Tom blinked. "What's up, Teresa?" The doctor's face hardened up like it did when she saw a long night coming. "Tom, get him off that damn thing and help me get him inside, quickly." She looked at the girl, who was staring at her dumbfounded. "You, there's a well not too far behind the clinic. You got any fire materia?" Yuffie blinked. "Do I have fire materia? Of course I have-" The woman cut her off. "Then get some water and heat it up, then bring it inside. We don't have a whole lotta time." Yuffie blinked. "Who the hell are you?" The doctor narrowed her eyes. "You wanna save your friend or not?" Yuffie blinked, then tore off towards the back of the clinic. The doctor smiled. "That's what I thought." Tom lifted the body off of the chocobo's back and grunted as she took the unconscious man's booted feet and helped him awkwardly carry him towards the clinic. "Teresa, this guy's shot up pretty bad. Someone shoots a man like this, he don't mean him to walk around no more. You sure you want this kinda trouble?" "I know Tom, I know... but..." She started wearily. Tom grinned. "But you never could keep your nose outta somethin'. Especially where people bein' hurt is concerned, eh?" She nodded, slightly bemused by Tom's sudden insight into her character. She caught sight of his left arm and froze for a moment, blinking. "What... the hell happened to you, stranger?" She muttered. Tom shot her a worried look, then drawled something slowly as he accepted a majority of the man's weight. "Yeah, I was kinda hopin' I was seein' things. Not ta mention, ya get a look at his iron?" He nodded at the huge, archaic looking revolver that graced the man's left hip. "This guy's no stranger ta violence. What if he deserved it?" She returned his worried expression. "I'll take my chances, Tom. Besides. A man who has a girl like that who cares that much for him can't be THAT bad, can he?" Tom gave her a droll expression. "Girls make mistakes." "Men do too." She returned sweetly. Tom had the grace to look embarassed. --------------------------------------------------- Jaeger followed the trail closely, Reiko immediately behind him. In cases like this, were the visual clues were more immediately evident than the other ones, she usually let him take the lead. However, this time she hung back, and occasionally frowned, glancing back the other direction. He never took his eyes off the trail, frowning in concentration. "What is it, Schattenblum? You are very jumpy tonight." She grimaced. "I don't understand this tactic, Jaeger-sama. If this Vincent Valentine is as crafty as you say, why would he take no steps to hide his flight? Why would he flee towards the jungle rather than the city?" He shrugged. "I don't know, Reiko. It is not like him to panic, but he has not gotten off of the bird, nor has there been any sign of the girl. I would have noticed." She frowned. "Ah." He grinned. "They are slowing down. The steps are becoming erratic. I think the beast is getting tired." She followed him across several fallen trees and around a large hill... then stopped when she sensed he had stopped. She detected the strong, sharp scent of blood in the air. He frowned, then whispered. "There is the bird... but no sign of Vincent or the girl... they must be setting a trap." He turned to her. "You go around that copse of trees over there, I will stay here and see if I can spot them." She shook her head. "That is not necessary, Jaeger-sama." He raised his pistol and gave her a quizzical look. "Eh?" "They are not here." He looked back at the chocobo, then at her. "How do you..." She was gone. He glanced around and found her leading the bird towards him. It followed her amiably enough. There was weeping wound on its flank that was just beginning to scab over. "We were following a decoy." She said, tiredly. "I thought something smelled different." Jaeger was silent for a moment. Dangerously so. "I am sorry, Jaeger-sama. I should have said something." He was still silent. Then he began to laugh. "HA HA HA HA HA!" He holstered his pistol and leaned against the tree, wiping his eyes. "This is good. Heh. Very clever." He smiled. "I never suspected such a trick coming from Vin-" He frowned. Considering, then smiled again, his eyes brightening in revelation. "No... not Vincent, he would never stoop to such trickery. The GIRL! The GIRL saved HIM, and then led us on this wild goose chase!" He laughed. "You are not... angry, Jaeger-sama?" She asked hesitantly, stroking the Chocobo's head more for her own comfort than the bird's. "Eh, I was fooled just as badly as you were. It is no great matter." He beamed. "So, Vincent Valentine lives to fight another day." She smiled, relieved at how he was taking this. It was sometimes hard to tell how he'd accept adversity. "We might still be able to catch them if we hurry-" She started. "No. No, mein Schattenblum... they have earned a reprieve, for now." He leaned his back against the tree and crossed his arms, closing his eyes. "Next time, your sole responsibility is the girl, Reiko. The two of you think... very much alike. It is time we stopped underestimating her." "Hai." She said shortly, nodding. "Heal well, Vincent Valentine." He said softly, mostly to himself. "Remember the sting of my fangs. The next time we meet, I look forward to facing the REAL Schwarze Tod, eh?" *** Author's Notes on Chapter 9 Next Chapter Back to the "Why Me" Main Page / E-mail Us Final Fantasy is the property of Square/Enix All original, creative-type stuff on this website is copyright to Chris Cuellar and Teresa Dietzinger, 2004